☆Life Book 2015: January Recap

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From the end of February I am moving! 

Unfortunately I will no longer post here but can be found here instead.

 I hope that you will continue to join me over on my new LilliBean Designs blog. 

I have been so fortunate to be a part of the Life Book courses from the very first year + I cannot tell you how much I love it! 

When I first started I was scared that I wouldn't be able to complete the classes, that I wasn't a good enough artist. I was worried that it would be destructive to my fragile artistic ego, and that I wouldn't complete all the classes. 

But what I found during the journey of that first year, was a supportive group of artists of all levels + who all had the same little bitch telling them at different times they weren't enough too.

This year when it came time to sign up, there were no hesitations, no thoughts of enough, no lingering fear. Just excitement + joy + bloody hell was it still two months away before I could begin!

The last few years, I have shared on an almost weekly basis my Life Book creations, but this year I've decided to have a monthly recap instead.

SO LETS JUMP IN!

Our very first class was with Tam Laporte. I love her whimsey style so much, but I also love how I can incorporate my style with her lessons. My Beacon of light is a symbol of all the hopes I have for the coming year, and is surrounded by symbols which remind me of these dreams.

Week One: Beacon of Light

The dragonfly is my personal talisman, the stars for my kids + the heart for Mac. My word of 2015 growth (check out why it's my word here.) is also featured as yet another reminder for myself.

Week two was a playful tag making session with Roben-Marie Smith

I used old manilla folders for the base of the tags, some of my super cute mini moo biz cards for the art work + spray inks for the back ground.

Week Two: Playing Tag

I also dove into my draw of crap + dug out some chipboard elements to use as well + then I decided to doodle some. The words I chose didn't really have a hugely symbolic meaning. The love card, because it had hearts on it just seemed to be appropriate, the fly card was a painting of an angel who was unsure of her path (full painting here).

The middle card represents my three girls - these paintings were their christmas gift a couple of years ago + they for me, totally represent the three of them.

Week three has us playing with lettering with Joanne Sharpe.

And if you have been reading for a while, you all know I am slightly obsessed with lettering. I love it.

So I used a quote that I am particularly fond of one that reminds me to hold tight to my dreams + strive for them.

Week Three: The Artful Wordsmith

The roses were totally inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh's style. I adore his work. (I was so cool when we lived in Scotland to be able to see his work in the flesh!)

Week four was a cute little ballerina girl to inspire us to have courage by Patti Ballard.

A mixed media page, I went for a little tight rope walker because I felt that week that I was balancing precariously, just holding it together but that it would only take a small nudge for the whole house of cards to fall down around me.

Week Four: Courage Dear One

Funnily enough, that was all it took...a small nudge. 

Life imitating art or art imitating life?

I ended up journalling a little on the rope + around her skirt.

So that is January! It is amazing to think how much I have actually achieved in the first month of life book, four pages that I am so very proud of. 

I am so excited to share next months with you (soon I promise!)

If you enjoyed these pages, you can pop over to my instagram or Facebook page, where you can see the in-progress shots, my joy + my frustration during the painting stages + the final work - first.

Did you know I send out an email with Studio snippets, freebies + give aways once a month? You can have your very own Studio Snippets delivered into your inbox, with free desktop art, discount codes for my online store, snippets from my life, my art + my brain. And absolutely everyone who is a member is in the draw for the monthly give away. Wanna know more? Then click HERE

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